THE WATCHTOWER (SIMPLIFIED EDITION) APRIL 2013

Did You Know?

Was Jerusalem’s temple ever rebuilt after 70 C.E.?

JESUS foretold that Jehovah’s temple would be completely destroyed. This happened when the Roman army led by Titus destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70. (Matthew 24:2) Later, the Roman Emperor Julian planned to rebuild the temple.

Julian is known as the last pagan emperor of Rome. He was a nephew of Constantine the Great, and he had been taught by the so-called Christians of his day. But when he became emperor in the year 361, he rejected what they had taught him. History books call him Julian the Apostate because he rejected the church.

Julian hated those who said that they were Christian. One reason may have been that when he was six years old, people claiming to be Christian had killed his father and other relatives. Church historians say that Julian encouraged the Jews to rebuild their temple. He thought that this would prove that Jesus was a false prophet.*—See footnote.

There is no doubt that Julian wanted to rebuild the temple. But it is not certain that he actually began to rebuild it. And if he did begin the work, it is not certain what caused the work to stop. Either way, Julian was killed less than two years after he became the emperor, and the temple was never rebuilt.

The temple site with a picture of what the temple may have looked like in Jesus’ day

^ par. 5 This would not prove that Jesus was a false prophet. He did not say that the temple would never be rebuilt. He said that it would be destroyed. It was destroyed in the year 70.